It is known that vulcanized rubber products develop cracks when their surface is under mechanical strain and exposed to the effects of ozone. The service life of such products can be significantly extended by the addition of small quantities of diamine antidegradants. Unfortunately, all of the conventional diamine antidegradants are expensive and tend to discolor adjoining materials on contact therewith. It is also known that certain waxes can be used to improve rubber products' resistance to ozone. Although such waxes do exert a certain protective effect, they will only produce this effect providing the film of protective wax formed over the surface of the product remains fully intact. Unfortunately, the film is removed during use of the product with the net result that the ozone-induced cracks developed at the areas of exposure. Even when the wax film remains fully intact, protection is far from complete because a small quantity of ozone still penetrates through the film and ultimately leads to the development of cracks. Therefore, there exists a need to decrease the use of diamine antidegradants and waxes without decreasing the resistance of the rubber to ozone and oxygen.